Citizen participation in the governance of community mental health centers.

The article reviews theory undergoing citizen participation in governance and presents several models of governance. A mail survey of 220 community mental health centers revealed that most centers did not meet the participant requirements of Public Law 94-63 for broad representation of the catchment area in governance or the functional requirements for decision-making, nor did boards incorporate other typical approaches to participation. This breakdown in implementation of the law can be interpreted as a twofold problem of organizational adaptation an power redistribution. Policy solutions would need to take both these cases into account. Incremental strategies alone are unlikely to create sufficient impact. Organizational development focused on building new models of governance and direct efforts to mobilize and empower citizens are suggested.